The CQC has found the quality of care provided by Carefound Home Care (Harrogate) to be outstanding following an inspection in August 2017.

Carefound Home Care provides local, highly personalised home care services to elderly people enabling them to remain in their own home regardless of their health condition. Rather than working under contracts with councils, it tailors care directly with families which can range from visiting care of one hour upwards through to full-time live-in care as an alternative to care homes.

Staff were said to have very positive and compassionate relationships with their clients and they went the extra mile.

Families were involved in the planning and review of their care and were, without exception, extremely complimentary about the care received.

The management of the service was also praised for how well staff were supported and for its focus on health outcomes of clients, such as for people experiencing falls or living with a specialist condition such as dementia.

Latest figures from the CQC show that just 2% of all UK home care organisations have achieved its coveted ‘outstanding’ rating and Carefound Home Care (Harrogate) has become one of the only ones to have been awarded this at two consecutive inspections.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:

“This is a service that provides exceptional care to people. Care workers were well trained and went the extra mile to meet their needs. We saw the service had a comprehensive induction programme and promoted people’s independence and provided skilled and sensitive care, including end of life care.”

“High quality dementia training was being provided. One example of this being used to enhance a person’s quality of life was seen during our visit to a person living with dementia. We saw excellent person centred care organised around their previous interests and lifestyle. The service devised an activity timetable incorporating dancing, maintaining established friendships by having coffee afternoons and visiting garden centres.”

“People’s health was promoted to a very high standard through developing strong links and excellent relationships with health care professionals. We saw an example of how staff supported a person to be rehabilitated in conjunction with an occupational therapist. They motivated and encouraged the person and their recovery would have taken longer if they had not been involved.”

“Excellent information was provided to care workers to ensure that they met the dietary needs of people they supported. Care plans we examined showed if people needed support with eating and drinking and their preferences. This service was rated as outstanding at its last inspection in September 2015, it is clear that their focus has remained on providing excellent person-centred care and I congratulate them.”

Oliver Stirk, Director of Carefound Home Care, said:

“At Carefound Home Care we pride ourselves on delivering local, highly personalised home care services of the highest quality to our elderly clients in Yorkshire and Cheshire.”

“We are immensely proud of our Harrogate office in becoming one of the only care services in the country to be awarded a second outstanding CQC rating and the team should take great pride in this achievement.”

“There is no better evidence of the difference we are making to families in Yorkshire and Cheshire and how our pioneering service is improving outcomes for elderly people, not only by enabling them to remain in their own homes for longer but also preventing reliance on expensive acute services in the NHS.”

“I am delighted that we have achieved another outstanding CQC rating and that the passion, drive and expertise of all of our team is so clearly recognised.”

“We are totally committed to providing the highest quality care to our clients and unrivalled levels of local support to our staff. I am confident this result will spur us on to even better things in the future.”